Election sham is a ritual of power sharing among the regime's ruling factions; it is categorically rejected by the people of Iran

In the wake of elections, the mullahs' crisis-riddled regime will emerge weaker and more vulnerable

The Iranian regime has put its security forces on an emergency state of alert on the eve of the sham elections on May 19, to prevent any eruption of popular protests and upheavals.Challenging the mullahs' supreme leader, president and their accomplices, Maryam Rajavi said, "If you claim that the May 19 showcase is a genuine election, you have to withdraw the half-a-million strong force of Revolutionary Guards and State Security troops as well as hundreds of thousands of plainclothes agents and the plethora of other repressive agencies. You must let the people of Iran go to the streets and freely express their vote and true desire. It would then become clear what would remain of the Velayat-e Faqih regime."

"Admissions made by the few handpicked candidates that the ruling regime represents only 4 per cent of the population vividly reveal both the nature of the so-called election and the main reason for the crisis engulfing the regime, which is the volatile state of social discontent in Iran," she added, "If the ruling regime was not in absolute danger, Khamenei would not have had to nominate Raissi, one of his most atrocious and detested criminals, for the sham election." She noted, "On the other hand, Rouhani loudly reiterated in his so-called election campaign on May 15 in Tabriz, that he is willing to kiss Khamenei's hand dozens of times. He said so right at a time when Khamenei has hit a record low among the populace for his direct support for Raissi who was a member of the Death Commission issuing verdicts for the execution of political prisoners massacred in 1988."Maryam Rajavi also pointed out, "In another comment, Rouhani confessed, albeit opportunistically, that the ruling regime has not done anything but carrying out executions over the past 38 years.

"Nonetheless, he has refused to touch on the most disastrous and tragic case of executions which was the massacre of PMOI members. Just as he maintained total silence on the mass executions of 52 PMOI members in Ashraf on September 1, 2013, and the rocket attack on Camp Liberty on October 29, 2015, which claimed the lives of 24 PMOI members. These attacks took place while Rouhani was in office and headed the regime's Supreme Security Council which decides on such criminal undertakings."

Maryam Rajavi reiterated that "the upcoming election sham, as it has always been the case, is just a ritual of dividing the power among the factions which make up the ruling religious tyranny." "It does not enjoy any legitimacy among the people of Iran. The outcome, whatever it be, is rejected and disdained by the Iranian people and Resistance," she asserted, "In any case, the crisis-riddle clerical regime will emerge weaker and more vulnerable in the wake of this election."

The secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of IranMay 16, 2017